Bugs may hinder anticipated voter turnout [Opinion]

People wait in line to vote at a polling place on the first day of early voting on October 22, 2018 in Houston.

Photo: Loren Elliott, Stringer / Getty Images

Never has there been more at stake in an election than the coming midterms. And whether we see a mandate to step up the Trump agenda or a resistance-led blue wave depends on voter turnout.

Voter participation in the United States trails that of most developed countries, even in presidential elections. While this year is expected to break records for midterm turnout, it will still be underwhelming from a global perspective.

The question driving many this year is how to turn around that trend. Advocates for greater voter participation are employing strategies ranging from flash mobs to food trucks in their get-out-the-vote efforts; venues have ranged from beaches to music festivals — not to mention a troupe of superheroes who crashed Comic Con.

Even with the ferment of activity surrounding GOTV and political campaigns — and even if, as analysts predict, record numbers of young people and people of color turn out, the blue wave may still be headed for rocky shores. That’s because the U.S. electoral system is not set up to facilitate a truly representative democracy, and it has been further undermined by those with a vested interest in a low turnout, say critics. They point to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and voter purges, systematic gerrymandering throughout the country, a built-in conflict of interest in administration and an Electoral College that overrides millions of popular votes.

“We’re the only country in the world — bar none — of 175 real democracies, where the elections are run by the people who are on the ballot,” noted Bob Stein, Rice University political science professor and polling expert. He pointed to the voter suppression scandal currently unfolding in the state of Georgia as an example.

“I think we can see it in the Georgia elections; we have to wonder why the secretary of state is voiding new registrations and not encouraging people to vote,” he said. “Conflict of interest is both an appearance and a reality.”

In Belgium’s last presidential election, turnout was 89 percent of registered voters. Participation in the last two U.S. presidential elections was just a little over 61 percent, and in the last midterm, the lowest since World War II, just 36.6 percent.

“You ask why turnout is low,” said Debra Cleaver, founder of Vote.org, a nonpartisan organization using digital technology to increase voter turnout. “It’s because it’s too complicated to vote in the United States, and I would go further to say that is intentional on behalf of elected officials.”

Cleaver questioned the need for the Trump administration’s focus on voting reform.

“Over the past two decades, documented in-person voter fraud has been extremely rare,” she said. “Statistically, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit voter fraud.”

Allowing Election Day registration would make a big difference, said Adam Eichen, co-author of Daring Democracy. “Our voter registration system is antiquated and deters voting. We’re in the 21st century; election officials don’t need multiple weeks to process a registration form.”

Automatic voter registration, like that used in many countries, could add an estimated 50 million new potential voters. Since Oregon adopted this approach in 2016, its voter registration has quadrupled; 12 other states and the District of Columbia have followed suit.

Election Day is a national holiday in many countries. In the last midterms, about 35 percent of nonvoters reported that scheduling conflicts kept them from the polls. ElectionDay.org, a project of Vote.org, encourages companies to give their employees Election Day off, and more than 250 have signed on.

None of this, of course, will have much impact in Texas on Nov. 6. But there are already indications that this year is different. By the second day of Texas’ early voting this month, the total in six counties had already exceeded the total early voting for those counties in 2016.

Based on traffic on the Vote.org website, Cleaver expects a record turnout.

“I think people are paying more attention,” she said. “I’m trying not to be dramatic, but it does seem like representational democracy is at stake.”

Barnett is a freelance writer based in Guadalajara, Mexico, and a former travel editor of the Houston Chronicle.